Smart Law Blog

LLC Business Formation: $800
Trademark Registration: $500
Uncontested Divorce: $800
Bankruptcy Chapter 7: $850

SmartLaw Flat Fee Details
Your flat fee rate covers all attorneys’ fees related to your matter. Costs related to your matter will be extra. Costs will include filing fees and any other cost required to address your legal issue, such as postage, transportation, copies, etc.

SmartLaw Flat Fee Limitations
Below are the limitations for each SmartLaw flat fee offering.

LLC Business Formation: $800
Single member California LLC
Completion of LLC documents
Operating agreement
Acquisition of EIN
Does not include filing fees or other costs.

Trademark Registration: $500
Limited trademark search
Form completion
One class of goods or services
Does not include filing fees or other costs.

Uncontested divorce: $800
Advance agreement on division of all property
Advance agreements on allocation of debt
Advance agreement on child/spousal support
Advance agreement on child custody
Both parties in the same state
Does not include filing fees or other costs.

Bankruptcy Chapter 7: $850
Single filer, initial filing
Petition preparation
Appearance at Meeting of Creditors
No real estate
Does not include reaffirmation agreement
Does not address any objections to bankruptcy discharge
Does not include filing fees

Participating attorneys have agreed to offer these legal services at these rates. However, it is entirely up to the referred lawyer whether or not you qualify for the flat fee rate. If you would like a second opinion on a flat fee rate, contact SmartLaw.

Participating lawyers have been screened by the Los Angeles County Bar Association for experience, insurance, good standing, and other professional requirements. The Los Angeles County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service, SmartLaw, is certified by the State Bar of California, serves clients in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties, and refers clients in all practice areas. If you are a lawyer interested in receiving Flat Fee referrals from SmartLaw, click here for information or call (213) 896-6571.

Find the right legal resource in Southern California by contacting SmartLaw: (866)SMARTLAW.

Many clients can save big on legal services, simply by being “good” clients. Of course, some legal issues can be stressful and can have a sense of urgency, because there may be a lot at stake. One of the reasons why lawyers are so helpful is because they are able to think about your legal issue without being emotionally or personally involved. This type of detachment from the facts of your case allows lawyers to think clearly about the best possible solutions for any legal problem.

Although a legal problem may be stressful for a non-lawyer that stress can end up costing you more money in a legal proceeding. It’s always better to work with your lawyer with a cool head and thinking as clearly as possible, even through the circumstances may be stressful

Discuss the cost benefit analyses with your lawyer. Take enough time to make decisions about your case. It’s very likely that you’re lawyer will ask you about the type of outcome you are hoping to achieve. You can save big on legal costs if you think carefully about your objectives in hiring a lawyer. If you have an unlimited budget, you can be as ambitious as you like with your objective. However, if you happen to be on a limited budget, or even a very limited budget, or if you just want to save as much money as possible, consider the shortest path to the legal outcome that you can live with.

Think about the questions you’re asking. Respect the time of your lawyer. Most lawyers are working on a number of cases at the same time and the more time you take from the lawyer, the more you are likely to pay for what you are trying to achieve. Most clients can save big on legal services simply by being concise in communication. That means, “Get to the point quickly.” Your lawyer will know what types of facts or what parts of your story will be important to your case. Here, spending a lot of time explaining your feelings or parts of a story that are not relevant to the legal solution can cost you money.

Also, regarding your lawyer’s time, ask your lawyer about a general timeline of things that could happen in your case. This will keep you from having to get frequent updates from the lawyer. Generally, the more you request from your lawyer, the more it could cost you in legal fees. Also, try to ask all of your questions at one time, as opposed to sending your lawyer frequent emails or calling your lawyer’s office regularly. If you are working with your lawyer on an hourly basis, you may be shocked when you discover that frequent emails and phone calls are costing you more than you expected. It’s important to ask the questions you want to have answered, and have a good relationship with your lawyer. Here, concise communication can help you to pursue your goals with as few costs as possible.

Ask your lawyer if there is anything you can do to help. Ask you lawyer if there is anything that you can do to reduce the workload in your case. This could include making lists, doing certain types of non-legal research in your case, or even running errands related to your case. If you are relatively easy to work with and can complete certain types of administrative tasks effectively, this could help you to save big on the legal costs related to your case. You can definitely help your lawyer help you (save money on legal fees) by being open to completing tasks related to your case.

Stay organized and be prepared. Another way you can help your lawyer help you (to save on legal fees), is to stay organized and actively engaged. Most legal issues involve various types of processes that are time sensitive. If your lawyer contacts you for information, for certain types of documents, or even for a signature, respond as quickly and effectively as you can. Keep your own well-organized file of documents in your case and stay in tune with what is happening in your case. This will keep your lawyer from having to make longer explanations or answer additional questions.

The easier you can make things for your lawyer, the more likely it is that you will save on legal costs and the more likely it will be that you can help your lawyer help you to save on the costs related to your case. Generally, communicate to your lawyer that you will be easy to work with and that you are willing and able to handle certain non-legal administrative tasks effectively, that you will respect the lawyer’s time, and attempt to align your objectives with your budget. These are great ways to help your lawyer help you, and great ways to improve your chances on saving as much as possible on costs related to your legal issue.

A “contingency fee” is a unique payment arrangement with a lawyer. This arrangement allows the lawyer to represent the client without an upfront payment when a case begins. Instead of an upfront payment, the client agrees to give a percentage of the award if the case is successful.

Typically, a contingency fee arrangement is used in cases where a person has been injured and is seeking money “damages” to remedy an injury. Lawyers often decide to represent a client with a contingency fee arrangement based on the nature of the case and the amount of damages that are being claimed. Some types of claims have limitations on how much an injured person can recover in damages, which may affect a lawyer’s decision to represent a client on a contingency fee basis.

Some contingency fee arrangement may require reimbursement of expenses as well as the agreed upon contingency fee percentage. A contingency fee arrangement may also involve a graduated contingency fee percentage, a contingency fee percentage that changes, depending on whether the case goes to trial or meets some other procedural benchmark.

A contingency fee agreement must be in made in writing. Here, it’s important for clients to carefully review the terms of any contingency fee agreement with a lawyer and ask questions about terms in the agreement that are not understood, before entering the agreement. Clients may also find it valuable to consult with another lawyer for advice about a contingency fee agreement they are considering.

Find the right legal resource in Southern California by contacting SmartLaw: (866)SMARTLAW.

When you have a legal issue that needs to be addressed by a lawyer, it’s important to find a lawyer that will agree to a financial arrangement that fits your budget. There are many reasons why, in your effort to find legal help, some lawyers may seem to be “expensive.” Here, we will go over three common reasons.

ONE

Supply and Demand

You may be shocked when an attorney tells you what her hourly rate is. After hearing that an attorney charges $400 per hour, for example, you may begin to wonder if you are going to be able to work with the attorney, even if you are employed and have some money saved. Here, some attorneys have more than enough work to do with clients that will pay $400 an hour. In fact, if an attorney is already busy with clients paying $400 an hour, the attorney may raise her hourly rate with new clients, because the attorney has less available time and is in high demand.

TWO

Experience is Valuable

The amount of experience your attorney has may be a significant factor in whether or not you will be successful with your legal matter. Here, an attorney who has worked on many similar cases in the past has likely seen how certain types of legal issues are better resolved and may be more likely to resolve your legal issue in an efficient and effective way. Related to “supply and demand” (above), an attorney who is very experienced is likely to be in higher demand and, because of the attorney’s high level of experience, may charge clients at higher rates. This does not mean that less experienced attorneys are not effective. It simply means that more experienced attorneys may charge more for their services due the degree of experience.

THREE

Expertise is Valuable

Working on legal issues can involve highly technical tasks that can be very particular to specific types of legal issues. At some point you might have thought that any attorney can help you with any legal issue. Here, many attorneys specialize in only a few select areas of the law. Often, a lawyer that has very low fees that you like may not agree to represent you because the legal issue you have requires a very specialized type of expertise that the lawyer you like cannot assist you in. Here, if you need an attorney with a high level of expertise in a particular area of the law, that attorney may charge more than other attorneys that do not have such a specialized knowledge of a unique legal issue.

FOUR

Legal Issues Can Require Many Resources to Address

You might think $400 for one hour of work, to use the same example above, is a lot of money. However, attorneys’ fees are not always like the rate of pay at other types of jobs. Though a lawyer may charge an hourly rate, that hourly rate may cover many other resources required to address legal issues for clients, including paying staff, paying rent for an office, paying for insurance, licensing fees, and paying for other things that make a law firm work, such as computers, telephones, copy machines, other office expenses, and advertising. Also, to become a lawyer, many people take on a significant amount of debt, which has to paid. These are just some of the expenses required to practice law.

Arbitration is a form of “alternative dispute resolution.” It is often perceived as a more cost-efficient way of resolving disputes, as opposed to going to court.

In arbitration, a neutral person referred to as an “arbitrator” hears each side’s position and arguments, looks at the evidence presented by each side, and makes a decision about the dispute. This decision is referred to as an “award.” Arbitration is less formal than a trial and the rules are more relaxed than the rules in a trial. Arbitration can be either “binding” or “nonbinding.” In a binding arbitration both sides agree to accept the arbitrator’s decision as final, even if they don’t like the decision. In a binding arbitration, both sides also waive their right to a trial. In a nonbinding arbitration, if either side is not satisfied with the arbitrator’s decision, they can request a trial.